Week 10 Judgements: Mangini stays hot despite cold shoulder

1. I guess that settles the quarterback controversy in Kansas City ... and Jacksonville.

2. Good news, LaDainian Tomlinson fans. Of San Diego's last seven opponents only Denver ranks in the top 10 in run defense. Shaun Alexander, start sweating. Your touchdown record is in trouble.

Any team wishing it had rolled the dice on Marques Colston? (US PRESSWIRE)

3. For the life of me, I can't understand how Marques Colston lasted seven rounds. In the past two weeks, he has 21 catches for 292 yards. That's more than rookies Chad Jackson and Sinorice Moss have together all year. And it's nearly as many as Pittsburgh's Santonio Holmes (24 catches for 380 yards), the first receiver taken in the draft.

4. Sorry, Tom Brady. This time the Tuck Rule won't save you.

5. How about a little love for the Jets' Eric Mangini. He won't get it from Bill Belichick, whose postgame handshake exuded as much warmth as January in Edmonton, but maybe this explains it: When Mangini left, the Patriots lost a heckuva coach. He keeps demonstrating it with improbable wins like Sunday's, and now he has the Jets ... yes, the Jets ... a game behind New England in the AFC East. Entering the season they were a dead-bolt cinch for the league doormat.

6. Expect Pittsburgh's Willie Parker to petition the league to play the rest of his games at Heinz Field. Parker's 213-yard day Sunday gives him four 100-yard rushing games this seasons, and all of them occurred in Pittsburgh.

7. It's not Michael Vick I don't get. It's that third-quarter call on fourth-and-one at the Cleveland 31. You have Vick. You have the league's No. 1 running team. So what do you call? Uh-huh, a bomb to tight end Alge Crumpler. It was intercepted.

8. So that's what happens when you include Chad Johnson in the offense. Too bad it took the Bengals half a season to find out.

9. I can only imagine what would've happened if Denny Green hadn't stepped in to shake up the Arizona coaching staff. The Cards have been outscored 80-33 since Keith Rowen was fired as offensive coordinator. That's an average of 11 a game -- they were averaging 18.5 under Rowen. Yeah, that was one shrewd move.

10. I'm sorry, but Washington has to take a look at Jason Campbell. That's not a condemnation of starter Mark Brunell, but the entire offense is stuck in sand, and Brunell is 36. When you exercise a first-round draft pick on a quarterback, you usually want to see him play. So why not now? I don't know what the Redskins have to lose.

11. This is what bugs me about Oakland: How can a team with Art Shell and Jackie Slater as coaches not have a clue how to pass block?

12. Poor Scott Linehan. He's stuck in Groundhog Day. Every time he looks up he's this close to catching Seattle for first place in the NFC West ... only to have Josh Brown appear.

13. The New York Giants are in trouble. Not only are they losing players, they're losing key players -- with left tackle Luke Petitgout the latest to bow out. His replacement is veteran Bob Whitfield, and if he doesn't look better than he did Sunday -- and, let's be honest, he looked like a turnstile -- Eli Manning better hire a track coach.

14. This is what they mean why they talk about managing a position: The Buffalo Bills had quarterback J.P. Losman try 28 passes the past two weeks. The Saints' Drew Brees threw 25 in the second half Sunday.

15. I don't know what I find more impressive about the Cowboys' Tony Romo: His first three starts or his social calendar.

Survivor Week X

Justin Smith vs. LaDainian Tomlinson

Bengals fans know what their club did in the 2001 draft: It chose defensive end Justin Smith with the fourth pick, leaving Tomlinson to San Diego with the fifth. Not a good move. Not that Smith's been a dud. He hasn't. In fact, he entered Sunday's game with 6.5 sacks, two shy of his career high. But Tomlinson? The guy's a terror. All he's done is score 18 touchdowns this season, two short of his career high, and 15 in the past five games, breaking Jim Brown's 46-year-old NFL record. He had four TDs against the Bengals and might've had a fifth if tackle Marcus McNeill hadn't committed a false start. Let's face it: L.T. is the best running back anywhere. Advantage: Tomlinson.

Vince Young vs. Matt Leinart

Tennessee could've had Leinart with the third pick, but chose Young instead -- and it did it despite having Norm Chow, Leinart's former coach at USC, as the team's offensive coordinator. That left Leinart to the Jets, who passed. And to the Raiders, who passed. And to the Lions, who passed. He slid all the way to the 10th pick, where Arizona got lucky, atoning for its 2004 mistake of not choosing Ben Roethlisberger. Not so lucky is Leinart. He's 0-5 after Sunday's loss. Young, meanwhile, is 2-4 with Tennessee -- but that loss to Baltimore really stung. The Titans blew a 26-7 lead. Advantage: Neither.

Ken Whisenhunt vs. Art Shell

Whisenhunt interviewed for the Raiders' opening and, depending on whom you trust, was offered the job. He wasn't interested. Neither was anyone else until Shell, a former Raiders head coach and one of the class guys in the business, jumped at the chance to return. Not a good move, Art. The Raiders aren't all that bad on defense, but their offense looks like it was scripted by Bert and Ernie. The only question is: Can they score an offensive touchdown in more games this year than not? So far the answer is no -- and those last two series Sunday were beauties. Both ended with fumbles. Whisenhunt's offense in Pittsburgh is struggling to overcome mistakes, but look at what happened against New Orleans -- Ben Roethlisberger threw three TD passes and Willie Parker ran for 213 yards, including runs of 72 and 76 yards. Wow. Advantage: Whisenhunt.

King for a Day

Baltimore's Steve McNair said he thought his return to Tennessee would be "bittersweet," but there was a lot more that was sweet than bitter in his performance against his former teammates. All he did was throw for three touchdowns and 373 yards -- both season highs -- and remind the Titans what it's like to have a quarterback lead you to a come-from-behind win. Of course, McNair did that earlier this season when the Ravens knocked off Cleveland and San Diego, but this one ... yeah, this one was special. And so was the clinching touchdown. It was a shot to Derrick Mason and, just in case you forgot, he was McNair's favorite target when the two were in Tennessee. Thanks for the memories, Steve.

Just asking but ...

1. Who's the biggest threat to Arizona for the first draft choice?
2. What in the world is wrong with Atlanta?
3. Are Byron Leftwich and Jack Del Rio on a collision course?
4. What's Plaxico Burress' opinion of Chicago's cornerbacks now?
5. Who's the first to beat the Colts?